Efforts to increase efficient nutrient use by crops are of growing importance as the global demand for food, fibre and fuel increases and competition for resources intensifies. This book provides both a timely summary of the latest advances in the field as well as anticipating directions for future research. It bridges the gap between agronomic practice and molecular biology by linking underpinning molecular mechanisms to the physiological and agronomic aspects of crop yield. Written by leading international researchers, this is an essential resource for the crop science community for years to come.
Preface vii
Contributors ix
Part I: Generic Aspects of Crop Nutrition 3
Chapter 1 An Overview of Nutrient Use Effi ciency and Strategies for Crop Improvement 5
Chapter 2 Crop Root Systems and Nutrient Uptake from Soils 21
Chapter 3 The Role of the Rhizosphere in Nutrient Use Effi ciency in Crops 47
Chapter 4 Optimizing Canopy Physiology Traits to Improve the Nutrient Utilization Effi ciency of Crops 65
Chapter 5 Senescence and Nutrient Remobilization in Crop Plants 83
Chapter 6 Effects of Nitrogen and Sulfur Nutrition on Grain Composition and Properties of Wheat and Related Cereals 103
Part II: Nitrogen as a Key Driver of Production 121
Chapter 7 Genetic Improvement of Nutrient Use Effi ciency in Wheat 123
Chapter 8 The Molecular Genetics of Nitrogen Use Effi ciency in Crops 139
Chapter 9 Biotechnological Approaches to Improving Nitrogen Use Effi ciency in Plants: Alanine Aminotransferase as a Case Study 165
Chapter 10 Transporters Involved in Nitrogen Uptake and Movement 193
Chapter 11 Crop Improvement for Nitrogen Use Effi ciency in Irrigated Lowland Rice 211
Part III: Other Critical Macro- and Micronutrients 227
Chapter 12 Phosphorus as a Critical Macronutrient 229
Chapter 13 Uptake, Distribution, and Physiological Functions of Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium 265
Chapter 14 Sulfur Nutrition in Crop Plants 295
Chapter 15 Iron Nutrition and Implications for Biomass Production and the Nutritional Quality of Plant Products 311
Chapter 16 Zinc in Soils and Crop Nutrition 335
Chapter 17 Overview of the Acquisition and Utilization of Boron, Chlorine, Copper, Manganese, Molybdenum, and Nickel by Plants and Prospects for Improvement of Micronutrient Use Effi ciency 377
Part IV: Specialized Case Studies 429
Chapter 18 Drought and Implications for Nutrition 431
Chapter 19 Salt Resistance of Crop Plants: Physiological Characterization of a Multigenic Trait 443
Chapter 20 Legumes and Nitrogen Fixation: Physiological, Molecular, Evolutionary Perspectives, and Applications 457
Index 491
Malcolm J. Hawkesford is Deputy Head of the Plant Sciences Department and Project Leader of the Nutrition Group at Rothamsted Research, UK.
Peter Barraclough formerly a Group Leader in Crop Nutrition at Rothamsted Research, UK, now retired.
There are then a series of excellent individual chapters on phosphorus, the cationic macronutrients potassium, calcium and magnesium, sulphur, iron, zinc and the micronutrients boron, chlorine, copper, manganese, molybdenum and nickel.
- Experimental Agriculture, 2012